Flash Fiction Challenge: Making A Sandwich (No, Seriously, I'm Not Kidding)
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Last week’s challenge — “The Unlikable Protagonist” — filled up with some of my favorite entries to date. Go and read the stories from that challenge — you’ll find them interesting, I suspect.
Yesterday, I interviewed author James R. Tuck and Tuck said something that stuck with me:
“You can write a whole page on a character making a sandwich and if you do it right it will be gripping and compelling. Have your character make a banana and mayonnaise sandwich while they discuss killing someone, or divorcing their husband, or sleeping with their girlfriend for the first time. You can turn that sandwich into a load of character detail.”
And I thought, well, shit, that’s true.
Every scene has to be infused with drama and conflict — you have to make every moment count, even if it’s just a guy making a sandwich or a girl squatting out in a field during a long road trip to take a piss.
Then I thought — hey, this should be a flash fiction challenge.
And so it is.
You have up to 1000 words to write a story — not a scene, but a story — where a character makes a sandwich. Any kind of character, any kind of sandwich, but the point is to infuse this seemingly mundane act with the magic story-stuff of drama and conflict. Make it the most interesting “person-making-a-sandwich” story you can possibly make it. It needs to grip the testicles. It must twist the nipples. It must not let go.
That’s your task.
Same details apply: you’ve got one week (ends 2/24 at noon EST). Post story at your blog or webspace and link back here so we can all swing by and have a little looky-see.
Now get cracking.
Make that sandwich. Write that story.



76 Responses and Counting...
Here’s my submission.
In Justification
http://lindsaymawson.blogspot.com/2012/02/flash-fiction-challenge-34-making.html
Enjoy.
What a good challenge. In that’s it’s extremely challenging.
I had an experience this morning that will help to make my story interesting.
Congrats on the Kickstarter Chuck.
[...] out other sandwich stories over on his blog, and my story after the [...]
Oddly, I was considered a story about sandwich making for the seven-point challenge two weeks ago, though it didn’t pan out. Perhaps this is what I get for typically doing these over lunch.
http://www.dlthurston.com/blog/2012/02/17/flash-fiction-sandwich-theory/
Congrats on the kickass kickstarter.
[...] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/02/17/flash-fiction-challenge-making-a-sandwich/ [...]
I give you: Peanut Butter and Blackberry
http://darlene.underdahl.net/?p=131
http://swsondheimer.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/sandwich/
the damn angels just won’t get out of my head.
The Lucifer here is the one from my novel, though these stories aren’t necessarily connected to said novel. I just happen to like him.
Having written about a sandwich, I think it’s time to make one.
http://billthescribe.blogspot.com/2012/02/chuck-wendigs-challenge-story-about.html
http://mjswinney.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/egg-salad-1000-word-flash-fiction/
Egg salad and domestic abuse. It’s really just a story about events that take place while someone is making a sandwich. I think that a story that was truly just about making a sandwich would be unreadable. Or maybe I just don’t have enough penmonkey magic to pull that off.
Mine is pretty soft according to those guidelines but it helped me keep working on dialogues. LOL! http://donnamcnicol.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-sandwich-flash-fiction.html
Great challenge – here’s what I came up with: http://importantmeating.blogspot.com/
Sorry for the blank blog: I just set it up for the purpose of this challenge
I fell off the bandwagon last week, although admittedly I could have made the time. I just didn’t effin feel like it. But this week, I’m jumping back on. Starting tomorrow evening. Promise.
This story has strong language and adult situations so its should be avoided by… well heck if you’re still on terribleminds.com you won’t be too shocked.
http://toomanydiversions.com/2012/02/19/online-dating/
Here we go Chuck: http://kernowwriter.blogspot.com/2012/02/yes.html.
Hi Chuck
Good luck with Bait Dog Kickstarter thingy!
My sandwich story.
Love Crazy Love
http://www.kerry-mutterings.blogspot.com/2012/02/flash-fiction-challenge-making-sandwich.html
http://kkvaneps.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/the-rug/
[...] my brain or others’, they will be CONQUERED. This week, I have my eye on Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Anyone wanna try this one out with me? Deadline is this Thursday, Feb. 24 at noon EST. Share:Like [...]
One of my twin daughters got up at 4:30 – and every half hour after that – this morning, which totally sucks, but it gave me time to write this short story about the #21 sandwich, available at Dino’s sub shop in beautiful downtown Arlington, Texas.
http://www.curtisedmonds.com/twenty-one/
[...] For the Terribleminds challenge, “Making a Sandwich.” [...]
They’re not just sandwiches, they’re executive sandwiches.
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2012/02/20/flash-fiction-executive-sandwiches/
[...] seems to be my Flash Fiction day. This week’s challenge was to write a scene about a character making a sandwich. I [...]
http://faeanddragons.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/roast-beef-on-ciabatta/
[...] Fiction: The Sandwich February 20, 2012Posted by Jim Franklin Another week another Flash Fiction Challenge courtesy of Chuck Wendig. This weeks challenge is called ‘Flash Fiction Challenge: Making A [...]
I struggled for hours on the title. I brought in several advertising consultants costing hundreds of thousands of pounds each but thank god I did, because they helped me to come up with this…
The Sandwich = http://www.thezombiechimp.com/2012/02/20/flash-fiction-sandwich/
or as I like to call it ‘In Space No-one Can Hear you Chew’
Enjoy!
In the end, it may have been too obvious a direction in which to tread.
Lunch
[...] story was written as a response to the latest flash fiction challenge on Chuck Wendig’s website. I’m not really sure this is so much a story as a vignette, but whatever. Why is the setting [...]
Satan Makes a Sandwich
http://scottweberwriter.wordpress.com/
I’m not entirely sure that this is the nail-biting stuff you had in mind, but I think it’s a cute little vignette anyway. Thanks for the challenge, it’s always fun!
http://sarahhans.com/2012/02/20/kanauika-or-making-a-sandwich/
Here is my submission: http://wordofgreen.com/?p=394
Because steampunk sandwiches are fun
http://rjkeith.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/toasted-tuna/
Here’s my submission:
http://wistfulwritings.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/flash-fiction-challenge-making-a-sandwich/
Throwing my hat into the ring here: http://pushcomestoshove.blogspot.com/2012/02/midnight-grinder.html
White Face Paint: http://ohmycomplicatedlife.blogspot.com/2012/02/white-face-paint.html
Here’s my take on it. I managed to creep out myself a bit. http://eileen-alphabet.livejournal.com/19250.html
Here is my flash fiction entry:
http://jwaynetucker.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/riverbelowus/
[...] most recent flash fiction challenge from Chuck Wendig of Terribleminds: making a [...]
Here’s mine!
http://andreadrugay.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/merge-a-very-short-story-flash-fiction-challenge/
[...] Terribleminds Chuck Wendig offered his readers and fellow authors a flash fiction challenge: You get 1,000 words to write a story where a character makes a sandwich. The catch is to blend [...]
So my first attempt at flash fiction actually turned out to be rather enjoyable. I didn’t anticipate it being so difficult to keep the word count down!
Check out “Illegal Substitution” at http://www.kevin-basil.com
So my first attempt at flash fiction turned out to be rather enjoyable. I didn’t anticipate it being so difficult to keep the word count down!
Check out “Illegal Substitution” at http://www.kevin-basil.com
[...] Wendig’s got a flash fiction challenge over at his blog, Terribleminds. The challenge was that you’ve got 1000 words to describe someone making a sandwich. My piece [...]
Hi, here is mine. http://africa2asia.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/making-a-sandwich/
Chuck, I think you should go through all the entries and *make every single sandwich there is*.
Um, except for the bad parts of this one:
http://warnerkirby.blogs.com/clintonaut/2012/02/the-last-supper.html
Thanks!
Here’s mine. Very interesting challenge, interesting results.
The Last Sandwich http://wp.me/p1BAlV-2j
Here’s mine: http://printdress.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/contained/
Beware of Tsunamis!
http://columbibueno.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/beware-of-tsunamis/
Hey there, I’ve just read a short story by Columbibueno about making a sandwich, & had to come over here & check you out. What a site! Fantastic. How inspired is your 1000 word thing. I really commend you that. It definitely brings the best out of Columbibueno every time.
Great stuff – cheers
[...] Chuck Wendig did it again. He created a writing prompt that allowed me to push myself. I warned my number-one beta reader [...]
Today’s Special: Fried Bologna Sandwich.
http://www.casondrabrewster.com/?p=417
Thanks, Chuck, as always.
BTFO!
Casz
Thrift is the Only Virtue
http://sjlandsmanstories.blogspot.com
Yay, a finished flash fiction challenge! I was sad to have missed the last couple.
http://robynettely.blogspot.com/2012/02/flash-fiction-challenge-poison-sandwich.html
http://writex3.blogspot.com/2012/02/unmaking-sandwich.html
This was so much fun! I want more!!!!
http://angelicsugai.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/damn-thats-a-good-sandwich/
Ahhhh! I only saw this challenge this morning, and having worked at a deli in the early aught’s, I couldn’t really help myself but toss down Unlike my usual stuff, there are no shape shifting murderous tigresses having sex with the Queen, but I liked this challenge anyway. Please enjoy a delicious Right-Back-At-You Sandwich:
http://matthewverus.com/fiction/rbatysandwich/
[...] Last week’s “Make Me A Sandwich” challenge went pretty apeshit — closing in on 50 submissions at the time of this writing. Go check it out, won’t you? [...]
[...] I came across a flash fiction challenge on Terribleminds, which is ever amusing and never safe for children. It’s also totally invaluable. I [...]
http://samanthajmathis.tumblr.com/post/18176509236/filibuster-sandwich
Inspired by sandwiches and Adele’s Someone Like You.
Here you go! The Avocado Debacle. Sorry I unconsciously named the husband ‘Chuck’. Your name must have been in my head as I started to write and I didn’t realize it till I showed back up here to post.
http://paintboxkitchen.com/2012/02/24/the-avocado-debacle/
Thanks for the challenge! Here is my story, The Avocado Debacle.
http://paintboxkitchen.com/2012/02/24/the-avocado-debacle/
[...] by blogger Andrea Drugay I decided to tackle a flash fiction challenge on a writing website, Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds. The assignment: write a story in 1000 words or less in which someone is making a sandwich. How [...]
[...] flash fiction response to a challenge issued by Chuck Wendig at [...]
“Champion”
http://amytupper.net/2012/02/24/champion/
My first attempt at one of these challenges, partially inspired by the digital release of the new Marvel Superheroic Roleplaying game this week.
http://lostzeppo.blogspot.com/2012/02/flash-fiction-challenge-fatherly.html
Here’s mine – Making a Sandwich. Sort of a romance, sort of sad. A fun challenge, I had the plot roughed out early on, but had to let it turn around in my head a few times before it was comfortable enough to settle down.
http://www.ravensview.ca/ravens/2012/02/making-a-sandwich.html
Stumbled across your site when Neil Gaiman linked to your “Aspiring writers” post. First flash fiction challenge. All feedback encouraged.
http://razorwiretightrope.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/making-a-sandwich/
Call me crazy, but I’m all about taking inspiration wherever I can and running with it, so my “sandwich flash” is turning into a bona-fide short fiction piece. 1k be damned, I don’t mind failing this challenge since it, surprisingly, planted the seed for a longer story. Thanks Chuck for the unexpected muse.
[...] Flash Fiction challenge over at http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/02/17/flash-fiction-challenge-making-a-sandwich/ [...]
I found out about this challenge after noon on the 24th, so mine isn’t an official entry. I enjoyed what sprang forth, and thought I would comment here, and give you the credit, because this was a lot of fun! And fun was very welcome this week- my husband was in a serious motorcycle accident on Sunday night, and has been in the hospital since. Thank you for the amusement and inspiration!
[...] short story done for Chuck Wendig’s Flashfic Challenge over at terribleminds.com. The challenge was to write a story – not a scene, but an entire story – based around [...]
I’m a little late, so this isn’t an official entree. More a post-prandial snack
Sandwich
[...] posted a piece of flash fiction based on the Making a Sandwich prompt at Terrible Minds. ”Life in the Sandwiches” drew heavily on my own family life, [...]
[...] The challenge was to write the most dramatic sandwich-making scene possible. I struggled with this one and finished way after the deadline, but wanted to finish the story anyways. [...]
I know I’m two weeks late on this one, but February was too jampacked with stuff and work and excuses to get around to it.
But I’ve come back to it and written a story and while it’s a bit short on conflict it has a fair amount of drama. I think.
Anyway, if anyone’s still checking the thread, I hope you like ‘Boy’:
http://patrickoduffy.com/2012/03/04/flash-fiction-boy/
[...] the internet, you can find little writing contests and challenges. Friday Fiction challenges,flash fiction based on an image, extreme daily challenges, extreme monthly challenges … these [...]
[...] Flash Fiction Challenge to thank for this story. A few weeks ago he asked readers to come up with a story that was just about making a sandwich but that was nonetheless filled with drama and conflict. As usual, I didn’t have time to get [...]
[...] my brain or others’, they will be CONQUERED. This week, I have my eye on Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Anyone wanna try this one out with me? Deadline is this Thursday, Feb. 24 at noon EST. [...]